Felt and dirty laundry
Column Journalists hardly played a role in the French election campaign, but since Nicolas Sarkozy's victory they have taken off their muzzle.
Column Journalists hardly played a role in the French election campaign, but since Nicolas Sarkozy's victory they have taken off their muzzle.
The Paris suburbs that burned under Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy are calm. The students who paralyzed the country the year before did not take to the streets despite the university reform being pushed through. In addition to the demonstrations, the announced strikes by many social groups also failed to materialize. Not even the renunciation of the previously obligatory post-election amnesty - for speeding offenders who did not have to pay their fines and for prison inmates who were allowed to go free early - has turned the people against the new president. Even the expensive vacations with the American president, which were once again paid for by Sarkozy's friends, the billionaires, are not held against him. The loss of importance triggered an identity crisis in the profession. And made them aware that the crisis of confidence among readers, listeners and viewers has been smouldering for a long time. The media themselves are to blame for this state of affairs.
Nothing illustrates this fact more vividly than the number of books published after the election. They contain what the journalists did not - or perhaps were not allowed to - write in their newspapers. It is not about individual cases, but about dozens of works. The readers of the newspapers and magazines must feel they have been taken for a ride. It is not only Sarkozy, who is friends with practically all media owners, who has been misinformed.
Two renowned journalists from Le Monde report in a book on how Ségolène Royal's candidacy really came about. Her partner, the socialist party president Hollande, has a mistress, a journalist from Paris Match. Royal became a candidate out of revenge - instead of her husband, who would have been the natural candidate. When Hollande considered putting former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in the race, his wife threatened: "If you do that, you'll never see your children again. Throughout the year, readers and voters were presented with the spectacle of an intact relationship between Royal and Hollande. And the journalists, who knew better, played along - you can't excuse it with the protection of privacy. The press also concealed Sarkozy's marital problems - and the editor-in-chief of Paris-Match was dismissed because the paper broke the silence.
There is an unhealthy inbreeding between the media and politicians: Numerous ministers, including former ones, are linked to female journalists. When Sarkozy's wife ran away - she was previously married to an older TV star - the then interior minister consoled himself with a Figaro journalist.
There were great fears after his election: state and private media in unison under the dictates of the new president? In fact, various programs have been cancelled, in some cases in anticipatory obedience by the channel bosses. Sarkozy himself has hardly become more relaxed at the destination of his wishes. He intervenes and allows others to intervene. He supports his friends who want to buy newspapers, such as the luxury goods billionaire Arnault (business paper Les Echos). His luxury trip to Malta between election day and taking office was paid for by a media entrepreneur.
But since Sarkozy's election, all this has been made public. If an article is cut somewhere, the other newspapers report immediately. Hachette owner Lagardère personally wanted to prevent one of his newspapers from revealing that Cécilia Sarkozy had not gone to the polls. The article did not appear - but dozens of articles about the act of censorship, details included.
Even trivial matters are blown out of proportion and not every incident is a scandal that jeopardizes press freedom. However, journalists have become more courageous and their associations more vigilant. They have repeatedly appealed to the owners. They have realized that the very survival of newspapers is at stake. Sarkozy's pressure on the press and his manipulation of the media (he produced the images for the TV coverage of his campaign himself) have turned the Internet into a genuine and necessary source of information. The newspapers have had to adapt to his freedom and they have largely done so. The conservative Figaro has by no means become Sarkozy's Pravda, but has remained a serious and pluralistic newspaper. At Le Monde, the new rebelliousness of the editors has led to the previous boss losing power. A welcome emancipation of French journalists can be observed on various fronts. Since Sarkozy's election, press freedom is in a better state than before.
> Jürg Altwegg is the cultural correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in Geneva and an author.
The Paris suburbs that burned under Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy are calm. The students who paralyzed the country the year before did not take to the streets despite the university reform being pushed through. In addition to the demonstrations, the announced strikes by many social groups also failed to materialize. Not even the renunciation of the previously obligatory post-election amnesty - for speeding offenders who did not have to pay their fines and for prison inmates who were allowed to go free early - has turned the people against the new president. Even the expensive vacations with the American president, which were once again paid for by Sarkozy's friends, the billionaires, are not held against him. The loss of importance triggered an identity crisis in the profession. And made them aware that the crisis of confidence among readers, listeners and viewers has been smouldering for a long time. The media themselves are to blame for this state of affairs.
Nothing illustrates this fact more vividly than the number of books published after the election. They contain what the journalists did not - or perhaps were not allowed to - write in their newspapers. It is not about individual cases, but about dozens of works. The readers of the newspapers and magazines must feel they have been taken for a ride. It is not only Sarkozy, who is friends with practically all media owners, who has been misinformed.
Two renowned journalists from Le Monde report in a book on how Ségolène Royal's candidacy really came about. Her partner, the socialist party president Hollande, has a mistress, a journalist from Paris Match. Royal became a candidate out of revenge - instead of her husband, who would have been the natural candidate. When Hollande considered putting former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in the race, his wife threatened: "If you do that, you'll never see your children again. Throughout the year, readers and voters were presented with the spectacle of an intact relationship between Royal and Hollande. And the journalists, who knew better, played along - you can't excuse it with the protection of privacy. The press also concealed Sarkozy's marital problems - and the editor-in-chief of Paris-Match was dismissed because the paper broke the silence.
There is an unhealthy inbreeding between the media and politicians: Numerous ministers, including former ones, are linked to female journalists. When Sarkozy's wife ran away - she was previously married to an older TV star - the then interior minister consoled himself with a Figaro journalist.
There were great fears after his election: state and private media in unison under the dictates of the new president? In fact, various programs have been cancelled, in some cases in anticipatory obedience by the channel bosses. Sarkozy himself has hardly become more relaxed at the destination of his wishes. He intervenes and allows others to intervene. He supports his friends who want to buy newspapers, such as the luxury goods billionaire Arnault (business paper Les Echos). His luxury trip to Malta between election day and taking office was paid for by a media entrepreneur.
But since Sarkozy's election, all this has been made public. If an article is cut somewhere, the other newspapers report immediately. Hachette owner Lagardère personally wanted to prevent one of his newspapers from revealing that Cécilia Sarkozy had not gone to the polls. The article did not appear - but dozens of articles about the act of censorship, details included.
Even trivial matters are blown out of proportion and not every incident is a scandal that jeopardizes press freedom. However, journalists have become more courageous and their associations more vigilant. They have repeatedly appealed to the owners. They have realized that the very survival of newspapers is at stake. Sarkozy's pressure on the press and his manipulation of the media (he produced the images for the TV coverage of his campaign himself) have turned the Internet into a genuine and necessary source of information. The newspapers have had to adapt to his freedom and they have largely done so. The conservative Figaro has by no means become Sarkozy's Pravda, but has remained a serious and pluralistic newspaper. At Le Monde, the new rebelliousness of the editors has led to the previous boss losing power. A welcome emancipation of French journalists can be observed on various fronts. Since Sarkozy's election, press freedom is in a better state than before.
> Jürg Altwegg is the cultural correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in Geneva and an author.
